Clothing such as shorts and bathing suit

ABSTRACT

The invention provides clothing wherein the hip hemline is prevented from rising during bending and stretching. When standing, loose wrinkles and bagginess in the buttock lower portion is not produced. Lower end portions of right and left edges of a front body, wherein leg openings are bilaterally formed, intersect with hip hemline lower end portions. Lower end portions of right and left edges downwardly extend from vertical intermediate positions in an outward convex curved line ( 16   a ). Portions ( 16   b ) of curves ( 16   a ) lower than a vertical intermediate position are linear or curved shape. A back body has lower portions ( 19   a ) of right and left edges that extend spreadingly downward from a vertical intermediate position. Seamlines between right and left edges of the front body and corresponding edges of the back body elongate from back waist portions to the hip hemlines with an outward detouring around the top of the buttock.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a clothing such as shorts, briefs, or abathing suit.

BACKGROUND ART

When the posture of a person is changed from a standing posture to asitting posture, a bending or crouching posture, or the like, the shapeof the lower half of the buttock is largely changed, and the skin of thelower half portion of the buttock is well stretched. According tomeasurement examples, in a standing posture, the vertical distance ofthe skin from the gluteal groove portion to the vicinity of the top ofthe buttock of a person of ordinary physique is 15 cm, and, in a sittingposture, the distance is increased to 25 cm. In usual shorts or abathing suit, the hip hemline (an approximately rear half of the innerperiphery of a leg opening) is in a position where the skin of the lowerhalf portion of the buttock is stretched and contracted at the highestdegree, and hence unstable. When shorts 10 are worn, as shown in FIG. 7,a hip hemline 15 a of the shorts gradually rises in a direction from aposition C to a position D, thereby producing discomfort. Therefore, therising hip hemline 15 a is sometimes pulled down by hand.

Conventionally, as means for preventing such rising of a hip hemline ofshorts from occurring by means of patterning (a cutting method), forexample, there are the following means. As shown in FIG. 9 in which afront body 11, a back body 12, and a gusset 13 are shown in developedform, cutting is performed so that the hip hemline 15 a of the innerperiphery of a leg opening 15 of the back body 12 is extended toward thecenter of the leg opening as indicated by the broken line F, and dartseams are formed so that an envelope for the buttocks is deep.Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10, a back body 30 and a side piece 31are sewn so as to pass over the top T of the buttock extending from awaist portion 32 to a hip hemline 33, and a dart which is long and largeis formed between the back body 30 and the side piece 31, therebyenveloping the buttocks (Japanese Utility Model Registration No.3022949).

However, in the means in which, as shown in FIG. 9, the hip hemline 15 aof the back body 12 is cut in form that is extended toward the center ofthe leg opening 15 so as to deepen the envelope for the buttocks, theportion which is stretched in a sitting posture is formed into loosewrinkles in a standing posture, so that the appearance is oftenimpaired.

In the means in which, as shown in FIG. 10, a dart which is long andlarge is obtained by the cutting method wherein the seamline L of theback body 30 passes over the top T of the buttock extending from thewaist portion 32 to the hip hemline 33, the whole of the protrudingbuttocks can be fully enveloped. Even when the hip size is identical,however, the hip shape is widely varied, and hence few persons have ahip shape just fitting to the hip portion. In the portion of theseamline L passing over the top T of the buttock, the flexibility ofeven a stretchable fabric itself is reduced by half. Therefore, themotion of the top T of the buttock which is caused by a sitting orrising operation is suppressed by the portion of the seamline L. Inorder that the hip hemline 33 is satisfactorily prevented for everyperson from rising in accordance with a motion of the buttock top T,therefore, a dart which is long and large must be formed between theback body 30 and the side piece 31. In this configuration, however, thedart portion which fits to the buttock in a sitting posture is loosenedwhen the posture is changed to a standing posture, so that many loosewrinkles and bugginess are caused in the buttock lower portion and thegluteal groove portion, thereby impairing the beauty of the hip hemline.

In other words, in the cutting method wherein the seamline L of the backbody 30 passes over the buttock top T as shown in FIG. 10, when it isintended to reduce such loose wrinkles and bugginess in the buttocklower portion and the gluteal groove portion, it is impossible toenvelop the buttocks widely and deeply, and the effect of preventing thehip hem from rising is reduced by half.

In the shorts shown in FIG. 10 which is configured so that the seamlineL of the back body 30 passes over the buttock top T, the portion of theseamline L of the back body 30 is closely contacted with the buttock topT which protrudes at the highest degree, particularly in a sittingposture, where by a sense of discomfort is produced and the sense oftouch is lowered. Furthermore, this causes an adverse effect that, whena person wears an outer garment which is tight and thin, a lineelongating along the seamline L easily appears in a prominent manner onthe outer garment and tends to attract attention.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The invention has been conducted in order to solve the problems of theconventional art. It is an object of the invention to provide a clothingsuch as shorts or a bathing suit in which a hip hemline can be surelyprevented from rising, loose wrinkles and bugginess in the buttock lowerportion and the gluteal groove portion are hardly produced in a standingposture, a beautiful hip hemline is obtained, and the wearing feeling isimproved.

The clothing such as shorts or a bathing suit of the invention ischaracterized in that, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8, lower end portions ofright and left edges 16, 16 of a stretchable front body 11 in which legopenings 15 that are downward opened are formed in a bilaterallysymmetrical manner intersect with lower end portions of hip hemlines 15a, 15 a of inner peripheries of the right and left leg openings,portions of the right and left edges 16, 16 and extending from verticalintermediate positions to the lower end portions are cut in a form whichis connected by a curved edge 16 a that is outward convex, portions 16 bof the curved edges 16 a which are lower than a vertical intermediateposition are formed into a linear or curved shape, portions 19 a ofright and left edges 19, 19 of a stretchable back body 12 are cut into ashape which is spread as moving downward, the portions extending fromvertical intermediate positions to lower end portions, a width (P)between the lower end portions of the right and left edges 19, 19 of theback body 12 is set to be equal to or larger than 0.6 times and equal toor smaller than 6 times a width (H) between the lower end portions ofthe right and left edges 16, 16 of the front body 11, the right and leftedges 19, 19 of the back body 12 and the right and left edges 16, 16 ofthe front body 11 are sewn to each other, and, as shown in FIG. 5,seamlines L are formed so as to elongate from back waist portions 24 and25 to the hip hemlines 15 a with outward detouring around a top T of thebuttock.

In a clothing which is obtained by performing setting, cutting, andsewing as described above, it is possible to obtain adequatethree-dimensional bulges which are similar to the body shape in thevicinity of the hip hem, in a non-worn state. In a worn state,therefore, the hip hemline can deeply fit to the gluteal groove portionto deeply envelop the buttock lower portion, so that, even when thewearer moves, for example, vigorously bends at the waist, the hiphemline can be surely prevented from rising.

Particularly, the seamlines of the front body and the back body have apattern which outward detours around the buttock top so as to avoid thetop. Even when a pattern in which the hip hemline is downward elongatedso as to deeply envelop the buttock lower portion is employed,therefore, loose wrinkles and bugginess in the buttock lower portion andthe gluteal groove portion are hardly produced in a standing posture,and the buttocks can be enveloped widely and deeply, unlike theabove-mentioned conventional art clothing in which the seamlines of thefront body and the back body pass over the buttock top.

When the seamlines of the front body and the back body outward detouraround the buttock top so as to avoid the top as described above, thebuttock top can ensure the stretchability of the fabric itself of thebuttock top of the back body. This stretchability enables the clothingto satisfactorily cope with motion of the buttock top. Therefore, thelength and the size of darts required for preventing the rising can bemade smaller than those of darts required in the case where theseamlines of the back body pass over the buttock top. In a standingposture, consequently, loose wrinkles and bugginess are hardly producedin the buttock lower portion and the gluteal groove portion, and abeautiful hip hemline can be obtained.

When the seamlines of the back body pass a lower place outside thebuttock top which protrudes at the highest degree, so as to avoid thetop, a sense of discomfort due to the seamlines is hardly produced evenin a sitting posture, and, even when a person wears an outer garmentwhich is tight and thin, lines elongating along the seamlines appear ina less prominent manner on the outer garment as compared with the casewhere the seamlines pass the highest top of the buttock.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of shorts of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the shorts.

FIG. 3 is a section view taken along the line A—A in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4A is a development plan view of a front body, a back body, and agusset of the shorts.

FIG. 4B is a development plan view of a front body, a back body, and agusset of another example of shorts.

FIG. 5 is a rear view showing the shorts of FIG. 4A in a worn state.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a worn state of shorts in a standingposture.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a worn state of shorts in a sittingposture.

FIG. 8 is a development plan view of a front body, a back body, and agusset of shorts of another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a development plan view of a front body, a back body, and agusset of shorts of a conventional art example.

FIG. 10 is a rear view of shorts of another conventional art example.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a front view of shorts of an embodiment of the invention, FIG.2 is a side view of the shorts, FIG. 3 is a section view taken along theline A—A in FIG. 1, FIG. 4A is a development plan view of a front body,a back body, and a gusset of the shorts, and FIG. 5 is a rear viewshowing the shorts of FIG. 4A in a worn state.

In the shorts 10, the front body 11, the back body 12, and the gusset 13which are shown in developed form in FIG. 4A are used as mainconfiguring members. The members are made of stretchable fabric.

Referring to FIG. 4A, the front body 11 is cut so as to have a widthwhich is larger than the width W between side lines 14, 14. In the lowerend portion, leg openings 15, 15 which are downward opened are formed bycutting in a bilaterally symmetrical manner. In the illustrated example,the cutting is deeply performed so as to form the leg openings 15 forhigh-cut legs in a downward opening shape. A hip hemline 15 a whichoccupies a substantially rear half of the inner periphery of each of theleg openings 15 is formed in substantially parallel to the front centerline S. Lower end portions of right and left edges 16, 16 of the frontbody 11 are formed so as to intersect with lower end portions of the hiphemlines 15 a, 15 a of the leg openings 15, 15.

Portions of the right and left edges 16, 16 of the front body 11 andextending from vertical intermediate positions to the lower end portionsare formed into arcuately curved edges 16 a which are outward convex.The curves of the curved edges 16 a are employed in order to form ashape which is similar as far as possible to a curve R of the buttocklower portion that is drawn when the wearer sits on a chair, as shown inFIG. 6. When the radius of the whole curved edges 16 a is small, loosewrinkles are easily produced in the places in a standing posture. Inorder to solve this, preferably, portions 16 b (portions covering placeswhich are immediately above the gluteal groove portion) of the curvededges 16 a which are lower than a vertical intermediate position areformed into a linear or gently curved shape. In shorts of an ordinarysize, preferably, an angle α formed by the hip hemline 15 a and thelower portion 16 b of the curved edge 16 a is set to 25 to 80°, morepreferably 45 to 60°.

On the other hand, the back body 12 is cut so that right and left edges19, 19 of the back body are cut into an inclined shape which is spreadas moving downward. In this case, it is not always necessary to form theright and left edges 19, 19 into a shape which is straight over thewhole length extending from the waist portion 25 to the lower endportion. It is requested that at least portions 19 a extend from thevertical intermediate position to the lower end portion are cut into ashape which is spread as moving downward. For example, the portions maybe arbitrarily formed as curves such as E and E′ indicated by thesingle-dashed line in FIG. 4A, or those such as F and F′ indicated bythe double-dashed line in the figure.

The portion of each of the right and left edges 19, 19 extending fromthe waist portion 25 to the vertical intermediate position can bearbitrarily drawn into an inclined line, a curved line, or the like. Forexample, the portion may be formed into an arcuate edge as indicated bythe double-dashed line Q₁ in FIG. 4A. In this case, in accordance withthe formation, the portion of each of the right and left edges 16, 16 ofthe front body 11 which extends from a waist portion 24 to the verticalintermediate position is cut as indicated by the double-dashed line Q₂.

The front body 11 and the back body 12 which are cut in this way areformed into a tubular shape by sewing together the right and left edges16, 16 and 19, 19. An inner crotch front portion 20 which is formed intoa concave arcuate shape in the center of the lower end of the front body11, and an inner crotch rear portion 21 which is similarly formed into aconcave arcuate shape in the center of the lower end of the back body 12are connected to each other by the gusset 13. The downward openingportions of the leg openings 15 of the front body 11 are connected toeach other in an endless manner by inclined lower edges 22 through whichthe lower ends of the lower portions 19 a of the back body 12 and theinner crotch rear portions 21, and edges 23 of the gusset 13.

It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 5, seamlines L between theright and left edges 16, 16 of the front body 11, and the right and leftedges 19, 19 of the back body 12 are formed. so as to, in a worn state,elongate from places outside the back waist portions 24 and 25 tooutward detour around the top T of the buttock and then reach the hiphemline 15 a. In order to realize this, the width P between the lowerend portions of the right and left edges 19, 19 of the back body 12 isset to be equal to or larger than 0.6 times and equal to or smaller than6 times the width H between the lower end portions of the right and leftedges 16, 16 of the front body 11. In FIG. 4A, the widths P and H areset to be approximately equal to each other. FIG. 4B shows the casewhere the width P is set to be about 6 times the width H.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, stretch lace 26 is sewn to the waistportions 24 and 25 of the front body 11 and the back body 12, andstrip-like rubber 27 is sewn to the leg openings 15.

In the thus sewn shorts 10, as shown FIGS. 2 and 3, adequatethree-dimensional bulges which are similar to the body shapes of thebuttock lower portions and the gluteal groove portion are formed in thevicinity of the hip hem. As shown in FIG. 6, therefore, the hip hemline15 a can deeply fit to the gluteal groove portion 28 to deeply envelopthe buttock lower portion. Even when the wearer moves, for example, sitson a chair or vigorously bends at the waist, the hip hemline 15 a can besurely prevented from rising from the position C of FIG. 7 to theposition D.

Particularly, the seamlines L of the front body 11 and the back body 12have a pattern which outward detours around the buttock top T so as toavoid the top T. Even when a pattern in which the hip hemline isdownward elongated so as to deeply envelop the buttock lower portion isemployed, therefore, loose wrinkles and bugginess in the buttock lowerportion and the gluteal groove portion are hardly produced in a standingposture, and the buttocks can be enveloped widely and deeply, unlike theconventional art clothing in which the seamlines L of the front body 11and the back body 12 pass over the buttock top T as shown in FIG. 10.

Since the seamlines L of the front body 11 and the back body 12 outwarddetour around the buttock top T so as to avoid the top T, thestretchability of the fabric itself of the buttock top T of the backbody 12 can be ensured. This stretchability enables the clothing tosatisfactorily cope with vigorous motion of the buttock top T.Therefore, the length and the size of darts required for preventing therising can be made smaller than those of darts required in the casewhere the seamlines L of the back body 30 pass over the buttock top T asshown in FIG. 10. As a result, in a standing posture, loose wrinkles andbugginess are hardly produced in the buttock lower portion and thegluteal groove portion, and the beautiful hip hemline 15 a can beobtained. Furthermore, a sense of discomfort due to the seamlines L ishardly produced even in a sitting posture. Even when a person wears anouter garment which is tight and thin, lines elongating along theseamlines L appear in a less prominent manner on the outer garment ascompared with the case where the seamlines pass the highest top T of thebuttock.

FIG. 8 is a development plan view of a front body, a back body, and agusset of shorts of another embodiment of the invention. In theembodiment, the whole curved edges 16 a of the front body 11 are formedby curves which are relatively more gentle than the curves of the wholecurved edges 16 a of the above-described embodiment. In contrast to theabove-described embodiment in which the hip hemlines 15 a of the legopenings 15 are formed in substantially parallel to the front centerline S, in the embodiment, the hip hemlines 15 a of the leg openings 15of the front body 11 are formed to be substantially symmetrical with thecurved edges 16 a, and an angle β formed by the front center line S andan extended line of each of the hip hemlines 15 a is set to 40° orsmaller, more preferably 35°. The width P between the lower end portionsof the right and left edges 19, 19 of the back body 12 is set to beabout 0.65 times the width H between the lower end portions of the rightand left edges 16, 16 of the front body 11. The other points such as theshape of the back body 12, and that, in a worn state, the seamlines L ofthe front body 11 and the back body 12 elongate from places outside theback waist portions to outward detour around the top T of the buttock soas to avoid the top are configured in the strictly same manner as theabove-described embodiment.

In the shorts of the embodiment also, the effects that athree-dimensional effect can be produced around the buttock lowerportion and the gluteal groove portion, that the hip hemline 15 a can besatisfactorily prevented from rising, that loose wrinkles and bugginessin the buttock lower portion are hardly produced in a standing posture,and that a beautiful hip hemline can be obtained can be attained in thesame manner as the above-described embodiment.

In the above-described embodiments, the front and back bodies 11 and 12are sewn to each other at the seamlines L. Alternatively, the front body11 may not be a single fabric which is continuous between the right andleft edges, or the above-described shape of the front body 11 may beformed by sewing.

The invention is not restricted to shorts, and may be similarly appliedto a bathing suit, and may be similarly applied also to briefs for men.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the invention, even when vigorous motion is performed afterwearing, the hip hemline does not rise so that it is comfortable towear, loose wrinkles and bugginess in the buttock lower portion and thegluteal groove portion are hardly produced even in a standing posture,and a beautiful hip hemline can be obtained. The invention isparticularly suitable to shorts and a bathing suit.

What is claimed is:
 1. An article of clothing comprising: a stretchablefront body including right and left front lower end edge portions; rightand left leg openings formed in the stretchable front body, wherein eachopening is oriented in a downward fashion and is located so that theopenings are positioned in a bilaterally symmetrical manner in thestretchable front body, wherein each opening is bordered by a hiphemline lower end portion that provides an inner periphery that formsthe corresponding opening, wherein each right and left front lower endedge portion extends in a first curvilinear fashion from a verticalintermediate position to a respective hip hemline lower end portion sothat each front lower end edge portion extends as a curved edge that hasan outwardly convex upper curvilinear portion and a lower curvilinearportion, wherein the lower curvilinear portion is disposed below theoutwardly convex upper curvilinear portion and has a linear shape; astretchable back body including right and left back lower end edgeportions, wherein each right and left back lower end edge portionextends in a second curvilinear fashion from a vertical intermediateposition to a respective hip hemline lower end portion so that each backlower end edge portion extends in a downward spreading manner therebyforming a shape having diverging edges, and the stretchable back bodyhas a first width (P) between the right and the left back lower end edgeportions and the stretchable front body has a second width (H) betweenthe right and the left front lower end edge portions, wherein the width(P) is dimensioned to fall within the range of equal to or larger than0.6 times width (H) and equal to or smaller than 6 times width (H); anda sewn seamline connects the right and the left front lower end edgeportions to a respective one of the right and the left back lower endedge portions, wherein each seamline is formed so as to elongate fromback waist portions of the article to a respective hip hemline lower endportion and each seamline has an outward detouring around a respectivebuttock top portion of the article of clothing.
 2. An article ofclothing comprising: a stretchable front body including right and leftfront lower end edge portions; right and left leg openings formed in thestretchable front body, wherein each opening is oriented in a downwardfashion and is located so that the openings are positioned in abilaterally symmetrical manner in the stretchable front body, whereineach opening is bordered by a hip hemline lower end portion thatprovides an inner periphery that forms the corresponding opening,wherein each right and left front lower end edge portion extends in afirst curvilinear fashion from a vertical intermediate position to arespective hip hemline lower end portion so that each front lower endedge portion extends as a curved edge that has an outwardly convex uppercurvilinear portion and a lower curvilinear portion, wherein the lowercurvilinear portion is disposed below the outwardly convex uppercurvilinear portion and has a curved shape; stretchable back bodyincluding right and left back lower end edge portions, wherein eachright and left back lower end edge portion extends in a secondcurvilinear fashion from a vertical intermediate position to arespective hip hemline lower end portion so that each back lower endedge portion extends in a downward spreading manner thereby forming ashape having diverging edges, and the stretchable back body has a firstwidth (P) between the right and the left back lower end edge portionsand the stretchable front body has a second width (H) between the rightand the left front lower end edge portions, wherein the width (P) isdimensioned to fall within the range of equal to or larger than 0.6times width (H) and equal to or smaller than 6 times width (H); and asewn seamline connects the right and the left front lower end edgeportions to a respective one of the right and the left back lower endedge portions, wherein each seamline is formed so as to elongate fromback waist portions of the article to a respective hip hemline lower endportion and each seamline has an outward detouring around a respectivebuttock top portion of the article of clothing.